Escape
by sunsetbabe17
Summary: The Institute is attacked by sentinels, and most of the mutants are captured but some escape. One of the escapees is Rogue and she is determined to save the XMen. She meets some new people and they all band together to save all the enslaved mutants.
1. The Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

The Beginning of The End 

They were finally here at their destination, the place where they may meet their doom. The ten stood together gazing at the gigantic building in front of them with an electric fence separating it from the woods all the way around. The ten once strangers that bonded in their times of need and became friends looked at each other and realized that this may be the last time that they see each other. Their goodbyes expressed without words, just looks. Then, they separated and went their own ways. A tall, lean man with red on black eyes walked to what seemed to be the front of the building followed by a tall, blonde girl who, if you looked just right, had flames dancing in her eyes. An extremely tall teen with jet-black hair and electric blue eyes walked past them, his companion another blonde girl with cerulean blue eyes. Following a little behind them was a short boy with spikey brown hair. They made their way to one side of the building. Next, a group of three girls, two blondes and one with auburn hair and two white stripes, walked to the back of the building. That left two boys standing together at their side of the building. One with dirty blonde hair and almond brown eyes, and the other taller, with spikey blonde hair and ocean blue eyes.

Rewind 

6 months earlier:

Rogue sat on the roof and just gazed at the stars in the inky black sky. She was just thinking about how life was going at the Institute. After Jean died sacrificing herself at Alkali Lake, things just hadn't been the same. Scott just moped about and mostly kept to himself. He no longer went on missions and barely showed up to teach his classes. But what did you expect he just lost the love of his life. Logan was angry all the time especially since he has to pick up the slack for Scott. Kurt left, back to Germany to reunite with his family. Ororo was the same as always, wanting to be strong for all the others, but you could tell that she was missing her best friend. The Professor was saddened at the loss of one of his first students, but he understood that Jean did what she thought was best. Many of the students are scared, worried that they might again be attacked in the middle of the night. Stryker definitely left a lasting impression at Xavier's School for the gifted.

John is gone and now an enemy. He was one of her and Bobby's best friend and they just didn't understand why he had to join Magneto's cause. Bobby and her had recently had a falling out and are officially broken up. They just didn't understand each other anymore. Bobby was just too absorbed with becoming an X-Men. Plus she noticed that he was hanging around Kitty a lot and when they broke up it didn't take long for Bobby and Kitty to start seeing each other. She should have seen it coming, why would a guy like him want to date someone who you couldn't touch. A tear slowly slid down Rogue's cheek as she thought about her break up with Bobby. She quickly wiped it away with her gloved hand.

The wind suddenly picked up and blew her hair in her face. A low rumble could be heard up above so she looked up into the dark night. What looked like a huge robot, excuse me robots, were flying in the direction of the Institute. She quickly stood up and then saw that jeeps were rolling down the road headed in the same direction. She sent out a telepathic warning to the Professor and ran.

Upon receiving the urgent message Xavier sent a call out to all of his students and the X-Men.

_"We are under attack everyone get to safety, X-Men suit up."_

The students started piling into the halls and running around frantic. Storm ran up to them and led them to one of the hidden passageways and told them to follow Danielle, one of the older girls. Reluctantly the kids left Storm and followed Danielle wondering if they would make it out alive.

The gates came crashing down with a bang and the jeeps rolled in. Men with firearms hopped out and ran towards the mansion. The robots, sentinels, landed with a loud thud and started attacking the mansion.

"Scanning DNA, mutant signature detected" one of the sentinels announced happening upon a frightened boy. It reached down with its gigantic hand and clamped around the boy who was rooted to the spot in fear. The sentinel picked him up and brought the boy to one of the many trucks that rolled in after the jeeps. The boy was then detained there by soldiers.

Logan burst through the front doors with an animalistic growl and released his claws previously housed safely in his forearms with known _'Snikt'. _ He charged the many soldiers and sunk his claws into them. Storm took to the sky and her eyes turned a milky white as she called up a lightening bolt that struck a sentinel head on.

Kids were being dragged out by soldiers and put into the trucks to be taken to God knows where.

Bobby slid out on one of his ice slides and started icing up one of a sentinel's legs, but it fired a laser blast at him and he had to swerve to get out of the way.

Cyclops came out of the mansion blasting at a sentinel that had its sights on Bobby. The sentinel wasn't affected that much and now turned its attention on Scott.

Colossus came out and armored up with bullets ringing off of his chest. He picked up one of the jeeps and hurled it at a nearby sentinel. Shadowcat soon came out and joined in the fight.

The X-Men soon realized that this was a losing battle though seeing that they were greatly outnumbered. They fought on though having nowhere to run and hoping that they could buy enough time for the children to flee to safety. Iceman was cornered by two sentinels and was knocked unconscious and placed in the back of one of the trucks. Storm fell from the sky as she was hit from a laser by one of the sentinels. Cyclops was overrun by soldiers and was down for the count. The Professor was carried out slung over the back of a soldier like a sack of potatoes. He was knocked out cold. The soldiers now had the place surrounded.

"Surrender now or I'll shoot him," a soldier demanded pointing a loaded gun at Xavier's temple. This stopped the feral Wolverine not wanting the one man that had truly tried to help him and fight for mutant rights to die. So that was it 4 teachers and 531 students were handcuffed and loaded onto the trucks. The trucks were designed to neutralize a mutant's power. Little did the soldiers know that the school had 532 students enrolled.

Rogue scrambled down from the roof, almost losing her footing twice. She ran for the woods and waited for the X-Men hidden in a tree. This is where she saw the X-Men, her friends, and fellow classmates captured and rudely taken from their home. She moved to jump from the tree and a branch snapped with a loud noise. Terrified she moved farther back in the tree trying to stay out of sight. One of the soldiers looked back and scanned the area with his piercing blue eyes.

"Something wrong Morgan?" questioned one of the leading officers.

"No, nothing sir. Just thought I heard something," Officer Morgan replied.

Rogue breathed out a sigh of relief and quietly jumped from the tree and ran off into the woods making a promise that she would rescue her friends.


	2. Running

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

Running 

Rogue was running as fast as she could away from the horrendous crime that had taken place at her home. Her legs ached and her heart and her lungs were pounding. She was sure that you could hear her heart beating miles away and her breath came out in loud gasps. Her hair was in disarray and full of leaves. Sweat mixed with rainwater as it poured down her face. She did not realize that it was raining for she was numb. Her clothes were drenched and clung to her. She was soaked to the bone, but she could not stop for she had nowhere to go. So she just kept on running into the night.

Finally, her legs gave out on her and she collapsed on the forest floor. Her body shut down on her and her world turned to black as she lost consciousness. The rain still pelting down and a full moon shining in the sky, Rogue just laid in the grass in a fetal position blissfully unaware.

She woke up to the glaring sun the next morning, her muscles burning and her head pounding. She slowly sat up and looked at her unfamiliar surroundings. _'What happened?' _she wondered and then it hit her full force. The attack, the soldiers, and the giant robots, and her friends, the X-Men captured "What am Ah gonna do now?" she quietly questioned and pulled her legs to her chest and sobbed.

She wiped her eyes and slowly got up. Once on her feet she turned in a small circle, looking in each direction wondering where she should go. Then, she looked down at her self and noticed the dirt that caked her clothes and that she was still in her pajamas, which consisted of a baggy long sleeved shirt and what used to be a pair of comfy sweat pants. She ran her hand through her hair and pulled out some leaves along the way. "Ah can't go somewhere lookin' lahke this," she muttered to no one but her self. With nothing else to do, or wear, she just marched on through the forest hoping that she was heading in the direction that would lead her out.

After trudging through the forest for hours, Rogue stepped out and all around her she saw dilapidated houses and charred remains of what used to be a thriving neighborhood. "Hello, anybody there?" Rogue called out hoping that maybe someone would be able to help her. There was a bang as a dirty, scruffy looking man whose clothes were in tatters exited one of the houses with a bag in his hands. "hey" Rogue shouted trying to get his attention. He suddenly looked up, just noticing her. He started to shake slightly and nervously looked around, for what Rogue didn't know. Then, he sprinted into a run seemingly afraid of her. "Wait, hey," but he was gone and could no longer be of any help to Rogue. "What, do I really look that bad?" she asked and looked down at her clothes.

She walked into one of the houses whose door was swaying on its hinges. "Anybody home?" she questioned not really expected a reply. She took a look around the house, upturned furniture, broken glass, and blood splattered the floor. Spotting a set of stairs she decided to journey up them. The floorboards creaked as she ascended the steps. Once she got to the top, she stopped and looked down the corridor. There were two doors on the right and two doors on the left.

Rogue opened the first door on her left. She was greeted with pale pink walls, boy band posters, and stuffed animals littering the floor. So she came to the conclusion that must have been a teenage girl's room. Walking over to the dresser she yanked open the drawers and found some decent clothes that she could wear instead of her ratty ones. She took the clothes and walked out back into the hall in search of a bathroom. Turning the knob on the next door on the left she entered into a room where you could not see one inch of the floor. Clothes were strewn everywhere along with CDs and books. Deciding that this was definitely not the bathroom, she closed the door and opened the one directly across from it.

"Finally," she muttered as she entered the bathroom and began the shower.

After freshening up, she decided that she had over stayed her welcome and left the run down house. Yanking on her gloves and pulling the baseball cap that she found in the boy's room down low over her eyes to help conceal her two toned hair that would give her away as a mutant, she walked down the barren road.

Rogue was walking down the side of the road and every now and then a car would zip past. She ran out of her snacks that she took from the house earlier and was now hungry, but with no money there was no food. So she ignored her growling stomach and continued walking. It was soon dark out and it began to ran again. She hugged her sweater tighter to her in the cool night air.

Suddenly, she was blinded by an oncoming set of headlights as a car pulled over right next to her. Rogue put her hand back down at her side waiting tense to see what would happen next. The passenger side window rolled down and a girl leaned over from the driver's seat. "Hey need a ride?" the driver shouted out to Rogue who was barely able to hear the girl over the pounding rain. Rogue just stood there wondering whether or not she could trust this girl. "Come on, I don't bite," she shouted encouragingly to Rogue.

'_Heck why not, I am a mutant who is untouchable, what could she do to me?' _ So Rogue shrugged her shoulders and hopped in.

"So what's your name?" the girl questioned, not one for awkward silences.

"Ro…," but then thinking better of it she quickly said, "Maire."

"My name's Nicole. Where are you headed?" the brunette asked keeping her chocolate brown eyes on the road.

"Ah,… Ah don't know," Rogue honestly told the girl.

"Are you a runaway or something?" she asked taking a quick glance at Rogue.

"Or something," was Rogue's answer.

"Oh," Nicole paused not sure what to say. "How bout you stay at my place?" she offered somehow feeling that she could trust this stranger that she picked up at the side of the road.

"Ah don't want to be a burden on ya," Rogue said not really sure why this stranger was being so kind to her.

"It's no problem," she stated. "Besides my roommate's out of town for awhile so I could use the company."

"Ahlright," Rogue said seeing as how she really had nowhere else to go. "Thanks," she added.

"Your welcome," Nicole said and drove on.

They pulled up in a condominium and Nicole led Rogue up to the second floor.

"You hungry?" Nicole asked. "Because I'm starved."

Rogue's stomach just growled in response and she blushed a bit embarrassed.

"Well I'll take that as a yes," Nicole said laughing as she walked around the small kitchen. "So you want a change of clothes," she asked as she eyed Rogue's drenched outfit.

"If ya don't mahnd," Rogue shyly replied.

"Don't worry I've got plenty of clothes," Nicole smiled and laughed. "Follow me" she said as she put a pot of water on the stove to boil. They walked down the hall and in the room at the right. "Here," Nicole said handing her a pile of clothes, "bathroom's down the hall and to the left."

"Thanks," Rogue said as she headed to the bathroom.

Once Rogue had showered and changed into a fresh set of clothes, she went back out into the kitchen. "Have a seat," Nicole said gesturing to the table and carrying two bowls of pasta to the table. "What do you want to drink," she asked Rogue.

"Water's fahne," Rogue responded. So Nicole set two glasses of water down on the table, one in front of Rogue and one for herself.

With the hat gone Nicole saw for the first time the white stripes at the forefront of Rogue's auburn hair. She didn't question it though figuring that maybe it was a symbol of rebellion or something or other. Noticing that Rogue had kept her gloves on caused Nicole to raise an eyebrow, but she didn't say anything thinking that maybe she was a germophobic and not wanting to sound mean. The rest of the meal went on in silence.


	3. A Gambit

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot

A Gambit 

Rogue was alone, again. She had stayed with Nicole for a couple of days and had found a friend who accepted her as a mutant. Rogue had to tell her the truth when she accidentally touched her. But Nicole was fine with it and now understood Rogue a bit more. In the middle of the night, Rogue fled from Nicole's house no longer wanting to put her friend in danger for harboring a mutant. Sipping her now cold coffee Rogue thought back to the event that pushed her to run.

_Flashback:_

_Nicole and Rogue left the local diner after having a nice brunch with Nicole's boyfriend, Nick. A guy was following behind them talking swiftly on a cell phone and got into his car and immediately started following them. Neither of the girls had realized this at first because he had kept his distance and remained unaware of the danger lurking behind them. _

_The roads they were driving down were empty because they weren't frequently used. So when the car pulled up right next to them and rammed into them trying to push them off the road they knew something was wrong. Nicole tried to swerve away and stay on the road and she did, but the guy kept on coming. "What's his problem?" Nicole questioned out loud not really expecting Rogue to know. _

" _Ah don't know, but let's try ta lose him," Rogue answered as Nicole took another sharp turn and Rogue gripped onto her seat for dear life. This did nothing to stop the maniac that was chasing them. Falling back the guy rear-ended them causing Nicole to lose control of the car for a second. In that moment, the man caught up to them and was driving right next to them again. Rogue glanced at the man and realized that he was staring right at her. She looked into his cold blue, almost black eyes that were full of hate and she discovered that his hate was directed towards her. That thought sent a shiver down her spine. He lifted up his finger and pointed to something just beyond Rogue. So Rogue turned her head to the right and saw that they were on top of a steep hill and there was a forest at the bottom. _

_Realizing what he meant she whipped her head around to warn Nicole, but it was too late. The man crashed into their car with so much force that the car spun and headed down hill for the forest with the large, looming trees. Both girls screamed for their lives as the car bounced on its rocky path downhill. The other car sped away. Nicole tried frantically to slow the car down and to avoid the trees. The car hit a tree stump and came to a screeching a halt. _

_Steam was coming from the hood and no one was moving in the car. Rogue pushed herself into an upright position, thanking god for seat belts and airbags. She turned to her left and saw Nicole raise her head shaking, pale, and with blood dripping from a gash on her forehead where she collided with the steering wheel. Both girls just sat their breathing heavily for a while and collecting themselves. "Are yah okay?" Rogue asked Nicole. _

"_Yeah fine, just a scratch and a major headache. What about you?" she responded. _

"_Ah'm fine," was Rogue's reply. "Let's get outta here," Rogue stated hopping out of the car. Nicole soon followed and both girls looked under the hood. Surveying the damage it was obvious that the car wouldn't be getting them anywhere anytime soon. So Nicole called her boyfriend, Nick and told him what happened and that they needed a ride. _

_That night Rogue decided that it was getting too dangerous and she didn't want Nicole to get hurt because of her so she fled into the night._

And now here she was alone and on the run again. Rogue still had no idea how she was going to save her friends, but she was not going to give up. She would find a way, somehow.

Some of the other patrons at the outside café started standing up and hurriedly leaving. Shouts were heard and people were pointing at something behind Rogue. So Rogue slowly turned around in her seat not really wanting to know what it was, just wanting some peace and quiet for once. When she turned around she saw a sentinel looming behind her with its cold black eyes fixated at her. One of its arms was pointed at her and it was glowing with energy, ready to burst.

"Oh shi…" Rogue started but wasn't able to finish as she was knocked out of her seat by some man that had tackled her and effectively moved her out of the blast's path. Rogue looked up into the man's face, who was still on top of her, and saw some of the most beautiful eyes in her opinion. They were a deep red on black and were very enticing. He smelled of old spice, cigarette smoke, and gumbo. An odd mix, but it suited him. The man looked into her emerald green eyes and leaned down a little closer and began to whisper into her ear.

"A pretty fille like ya should be more careful," he grinned and pushed himself up. He offered her his hand and she took it and he pulled her back up into a standing position. A card suddenly appeared in his hand, probably from one of the many pockets of his long brown trench coat. It began to glow with a pink energy and Rogue watched curious. He threw the card with deadly accuracy and it hit the sentinel square in the chest and exploded. Rogue gasped in surprise and saw that a good portion of the sentinel's chest was gone, but it was still standing and coming after them.

Rogue decided that she wouldn't be much help here with her useless power and decided to make a break for it. The sentinel seemed to be busy with the man so she was in the clear. She made her way to the closest vehicle, which happened to be a black harley. She jumped on the seat and began to hot wire the bike. "Come on…" she muttered under her breath as she worked. The bike suddenly shifted from more weight being added to it and two strong arms snaked around her and a husky voice whispered in her ear,

"Wouldn't it be easier wit' de keys cherie," and the engine roared to life and Rogue grabbed the handlebars as the man wrapped his arms around her. Rogue stiffened at the contact not wanting him to get too close and she didn't know if he was dangerous. The sentinel was in close pursuit. Behind her the man would turn around at times and throw one of his glowing cards at the sentinel. Rogue tried her best to dodge all of the blasts sent their way from the sentinel, but she didn't know how long she could keep this up.

"Go right," the man shouted over the noise and with nowhere else to go Rogue took a sharp right. She almost lost control of the bike, but the man quickly grabbed the handlebars and righted them. The man threw another card at the sentinel and he must have hit something vital because the whole sentinel exploded in a shower of sparks.

After that, he took control of the steering and they pulled up at an apartment complex. He cut the engine and got off. He started walking towards the entrance of the building. Rogue just sat on the bike not quite sure what she was supposed to do. The man stopped walking and whirled around. "Ya comin'? Ah don' bite," he grinned as he teased her. Rogue wasn't sure if she should go with him because after all she didn't really know him. On the other hand, she had nowhere else to go and he couldn't be that bad because he did save her from being blown to smithereens. So Rogue hopped off the bike and followed him into the building.

They walked up two flights of stars and then he stopped at a door that had the number seven on it hanging upside down. The building was pretty run down and dirty. Rogue walked into the room after the guy and took a look around. There was hardly anything, just a few pieces of furniture. It didn't looked like any one lived there, but obviously this man did. 

"Want sometin' ta drink?" he asked as he gestured for her to take a seat on the couch.

"A glass of water would be fine," Rogue responded nervously and sat down on the couch. The man left the room and Rogue suddenly began to have second thoughts on her decision to follow him. But before she could act he came back into the room and handed her a glass of water. "Thanks". He sat on the coffee table in front of her and a washcloth appeared in his hand and he leaned in towards her face. Rogue leaped back, "what are ya doin'?" she asked definitely on edge now.

"Ya have a cut, you're bleedin'," he stated, reaching for her again.

"Wait," Rogue nearly shouted moving her head out of his reach. "Mah skin's dangerous. When people touch meh, Ah absorb their life force, memories, and in a mutant's case their powahs," Rogue explained hoping that he wouldn't touch her now.

"Oh," was all he said and then he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a pair of gloves. All Rogue could do was stare at him as he put the gloves on, grabbed her chin, and cleaned up the cut that was on her forehead. Everyone Rogue met had shied away from her after hearing what her powers were, but here was this man who she just met and wasn't afraid of her powers. Once he was finished, he sat back and studied her for a minute, taking in her auburn hair with the two prominent white stripes and her piercing green eyes. "Name's Gambit, Remy LeBeau to the ladies," he winked and held out his hand to her.

"Rogue," she introduced herself and stuck out her hand to grab his, but instead of the normal handshake he turned her hand over and kissed the back of it. Rogue quickly pulled her hand away and fought the blush that was fighting its way to her cheeks. "What's your powah?" she asked trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"Remy can kinetically charge objects and make them go boom," he responded jubilantly. "Also, Remy's an empath."

"Yah from the south?" she questioned noting the accent.

"Oui, Nawlins. Ya?" Remy responded.

"Yeah, Ah'm from Mississippi," she answered.

"Want Remy ta take ya home?" he asked.

"Um, Ah don't exactly have a home raght now," she said and stared at her feet as if they were the most interesting things in the world. Remy grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

"What do ya mean cherie, ya don't have home?" he asked concern written all over his face. So she told him her story, about how the sentinels attacked the mansion and all her friends were captured and she was on her own with nowhere to go.

"Je suis desole," Remy said astounded by what this girl had gone through. "Ya can stay here wit' Remy if ya want," he offered.

"Ah don't want to be a burden on ya. Ya hardly even know meh," she tried to turn him down, but he was having none of it.

"Remy insists that ya stay and Ah'll help ya get your friends back," he said and tears came to Rogue's eyes surprised at how kind he was and that he wanted to help her.

"Yah'd really do that," she questioned not knowing why any one would want to put themselves in danger to help people they didn't even know.

"Oui, what dose people are doin' ta mutants is horrible and just downright cruel. Someone needs to put a stop to it," he answered with so much conviction that Rogue knew he was telling the truth.

"Ok Ah'll stay," she consented. Rogue was no longer alone on her mission and the ball was finally in motion to get her friends back.


End file.
